Mooring buoys are well known for mooring a vessel in open water without having to dock the vessel pierside. One drawback of the typical mooring buoy is its exposed shackle, which can contact a vessel hull due to wave action and other forces acting on the vessel and the buoy. Contact between the vessel hull and the conventional buoy mars the vessel hull and in some cases, may cause significant damage and affect the vessel's seaworthiness.
A mooring buoy is needed that safeguards vessel hulls from contact by exposed shackles and the associated damage caused by such contact.